Barbaro Julio Fernández (born August 29, 1954) is a Cuban-American guitarist and composer best known as the current and longtime guitarist for the jazz-fusion band

Spyro Gyra Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1974. The band's music combines jazz, R&B, funk, and pop music. The band's name comes from ''Spirogyra'', a genus of green algae which founder Jay Beckenste ...

. Fernández was born in

Havana, Cuba Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

, where he started playing guitar at the age of nine. At Hoboken High School, Fernández played tuba in the school band. The first band he played for outside of school was The Meteors, a group composed of some neighborhood kids Fernández grew up with in Hoboken. Before finding paid work as a musician, Fernández worked at various times as a clothing salesman, a messenger in a law firm, a newspaper delivery man and a labourer in a coat factory. Fernández graduated from Hoboken High School in 1972 and attended

Montclair State University Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Clifton and into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public un ...

on scholarship as a music education major, but dropped out after the first semester of his second year to pursue his dream of playing music professionally. With Fernández's career at a standstill in 1984, his friend

Gerardo Velez Gerardo "Jerry" Velez (born August 15, 1947) is an American musician. Best known for performing with American psychedelic rock musician Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock Festival in August 1969, Velez is a veteran percussionist and drummer, who has perfor ...

, Fernández's collaborator on various projects and the percussionist for Spyro Gyra at that time, told him the band was looking for a new guitarist. Fernández auditioned and was hired the next day—an event he described as "one of the happiest days of my life." Except for a two-year hiatus at the end of that decade, Fernandez has continued in that position, contributing on 24 of the band's 31 albums. Fernández has also worked for a variety of other musicians, including

Bernie Williams Bernabé Williams Figueroa Jr. (born September 13, 1968) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player and current musician. He played his entire 16-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees from 1991 through ...

Chuck Loeb Charles Samuel "Chuck" Loeb (December 7, 1955 – July 31, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist and a member of the groups Steps Ahead, Metro and Fourplay. Early years and education Loeb was born in Nyack, New York, near New York City. At ...

Dave Samuels David Alan Samuels (October 9, 1948 – April 22, 2019) was an American vibraphone and marimba player who spent many years with the contemporary jazz group Spyro Gyra. His recordings and live performances during that period also reflect his pr ...

Phoebe Snow Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs "Poetry Man" and "Harpo's Blues", and her credited guest vocals on Paul Simo ...

Richie Cannata Richie Cannata (born March 3, 1949) is an American music producer, saxophonist, keyboardist and studio owner. He is most notable for playing saxophone in Billy Joel's band alongside Liberty DeVitto, Russell Javors, and Doug Stegmeyer. After leav ...

David Broza David Simon Berwick Broza (; born September 4, 1955) is an Israeli singer-songwriter. His music mixes modern pop with Spanish music. Biography David Broza was born in Haifa, Israel. His father was an Israeli–British businessman of German-Dutch ...

Eric Marienthal Eric Marienthal (born December 19, 1957) is a Grammy Award-nominated Los Angeles-based contemporary saxophonist best known for his work in the jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, and pop genres. Early life Eric Marienthal was born on December 19, 1 ...

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

Emmanuel Immanuel or Emmanuel (, "God swith us"; Koine Greek: ) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the House of David. The Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 1:22 –23) interprets this as a prophecy of ...

and

Marion Meadows Marion Meadows (born July 24, 1962) is an Americans, American soprano saxophonist and composer, mainly in smooth jazz. He was born in Beckley, West Virginia, and grew up mainly in Connecticut. His first album as a leader was ''For Lovers Only'' ...

. Since 2012, Fernández has been involved with Voices Of Valor, an organization that provides therapeutic songwriting programs for veterans.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Julio 1954 births Living people American jazz guitarists Hoboken High School alumni Montclair State University alumni Musicians from Hoboken, New Jersey